Deliciously soft & fluffy vegan apple muffins, loaded with sweet, tender apples and topped with crumbly, crunchy streusel!
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"I need to give ten stars for these. The family were oohing and ahhing before they were even out of the oven due to the amazing smell. Even the streusel crumbs that fell off when taking them out of the pan were gobbled up! We all ate them for dessert last night and had more for breakfast this morning. Thank you for another amazing, accurate and tasty recipe!." - Maureen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ More reviews →
Move over Vegan Apple Cake because today Vegan Apple Muffins are taking the spotlight! We're talking big, bakery-style apple muffins with lots of cinnamon and crumbly, buttery, vegan streusel-y tops.
Great on their own, but even better cut and spread with vegan butter, vegan brown butter, or apple butter for a delicious snack! Maybe an Apple Crisp Macchiato on the side too?
Mel x
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Ingredients
Here is exactly what you need to make Vegan Apple Muffins at a glance, along with some important ingredient notes & substitution ideas:
- Flour - You can use all-purpose flour (plain in the UK), spelt flour or whole wheat flour in this recipe. They all work really well. You can also use a good gluten-free all-purpose baking flour like Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour but the muffins will take an extra couple of minutes to bake.
- Apple cider vinegar - Because these are eggless apple muffins we use a combination of extra baking powder, baking soda, and vinegar to replace the leavening and light texture that eggs would otherwise create.
- Plant milk - Any vegan milk but I do recommend an unsweetened one if you can.
- Apples - The best apples to for making cakes and muffins are firmer ones. Avoid soft, mealy, or mushy apples. I like to use Pink Lady, Fuji, Honey Crisp, or Granny Smith apples.
Vegan streusel is optional but recommended because who doesn't love a streusel-topped muffin? Here are the streusel ingredients. You'll notice that the only extra ingredient you need for this is brown sugar.
How To Make Vegan Apple Muffins
Can't wait to make them? Here's a quick visual walkthrough (see the recipe card and recipe video for the full and detailed version):
1 - If using the optional streusel make it now and refrigerate while you make the muffin batter. It's as simple as mixing everything together in a bowl.
2 - Make the apple muffin batter. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients together in another, then combine. This ensures you don't overmix which is important for muffins that rise high and are tender and light. Then fold through the apple. Here's what the batter should look like:
3 - Fill your muffin pan wells almost to the top if using the optional streusel or right to the top if not.
4 - Top with streusel then bake. Be sure to take note of my oven temperature trick in the recipe instructions. It makes a huge difference to how your muffins turn out!
5 - Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Apple Muffin Success Tips
Take note of these tips for perfect Vegan Apple Muffins every single time:
- For the best results weigh the ingredients with a digital scale.
- Chop the apple into small pieces and don't be overenthusiastic with how much you add. Too much and the muffins could become a bit soggy and lack structure.
- My tip for perfect muffin tops? They need an initial, very hot blast in the oven. Don't skip that step!
- Fill the muffin wells all the way to the top or just below if using the optional streusel. This helps form good muffin tops. And don't worry, the batter won't overflow because of the initial high-temperature trick.
- Do not over-mix the batter. Just mix until you can't see any dry flour. Some small lumps are fine.
Recipe FAQs
To make this muffin recipe oil-free, use cashew butter instead of vegan butter. Use the same quantity and blend it up into the milk before proceeding with the recipe. If it's not really drippy/runny nut butter, you will need to add an extra 2 tablespoons of milk. Cashew butter has a neutral buttery flavour and will provide the necessary fat to create a nice spongy, good textured muffin. Note that they will not be quite as light and fluffy as they would if you use vegan butter.
Diced stone fruits or pears should work well, but check out my other vegan muffin recipes before you make a decision. It's always better to follow a recipe as written rather than change it and hope for the best.
Sugar is important for structure as well as sweetness. In this recipe, you can safely reduce the sugar by a quarter. Any more and the muffins won't turn out as well.
Recipe
Vegan Apple Muffins
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2½ cups (312 grams) all purpose, spelt or whole wheat flour , (use plain flour in the UK) For gluten-free use a good all purpose GF Baking Flour like Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1.
- ½ teaspoon baking soda , (bicarb in the UK)
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup (120 mls) melted vegan butter or oil , vegan butter gives the best flavour. See recipe notes for oil-free option
- 1 cup (200 grams) white or cane sugar
- ¾ cup (180 mls) unsweetened dairy-free milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar , or lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 medium apples , peeled, cored & diced (approx 2 cups or 215 grams once diced)
Streusel
- ¼ cup (60 mls) melted vegan butter
- Packed ⅓ cup (64 grams) brown sugar , light or dark
- 1 heaping tablespoon (15 grams white or cane sugar
- ⅔ cup (84 grams) flour , (the same flour you used for the muffins)
- OPTIONAL ½ cup (75 grams) chopped pecans or walnuts
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
For the streusel (make first)
- To a medium bowl add the melted butter, brown sugar and white/cane sugar. Stir to combine. Add the flour to the butter mixture and using a fork (do not use a spoon or spatula), gently toss everything together to form a mix of sandy, small, medium and large clumps, making sure to incorporate all of the dry flour. It's good for it to be really irregular with clumps of all different sizes. Be careful not to over-mix it because you'll end up breaking up the clumps. Pop the streusel in the fridge while you make the muffins.
For the muffins
- Preheat oven to 425 °F (220 °C) and grease or line a 12 well muffin pan.
- To a large bowl add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Whisk them together to combine.
- Pour the melted butter/oil into a medium bowl, then add the sugar, milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. Whisk together well.
- Make sure your apples are prepped and your muffin pan ready, then pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix together gently. Do not beat it hard and do not over-mix. Incorporate it just enough that you can't see any dry flour. Some small lumps are ok.
- Add the chopped apples and fold gently through the batter.
- Using an ice cream scoop, fill the muffin wells right to the top of the pan if not using streusel, or just under if using streusel. I used 2 ice cream scoops in each. Don't worry, they won't overflow because of my high-temperature trick ;O)
- Add a generous spoonful of streusel to the top of the batter and pat it in very gently with your fingers.
- Get the muffins in the oven as fast as you can and set a timer for 5 minutes. This initial 5 minutes at high-temperature step is really important so don't skip it.
- When the 5 minutes is up, without opening the oven door, turn the temperature down to 350 °F (180 °C) and cook them for another 15 to 17 minutes or until golden and cooked through. All ovens and muffin pans cook differently so keep an eye on them and check with a skewer or sharp, thin knife. Insert into the centre of 1 muffin and if it comes out clean they are done. If not cook for a few minutes longer.
- Leave the muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove carefully and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
NOTES
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Ash says
Obsessed. Made these for the first time last week and I'm back immediately for more! Excellent instructions, delicious muffins, streusel is insane.
Melanie McDonald says
Love to hear that, Ash and thank you so much for coming back to leave a review. It’s much appreciated!
Joy says
These are amazing! You’d never guess they were vegan. A real treat
bostonmama says
Can you substitute apple sauce for apples? My kids sadly don't like pieces of fruit in their muffins. Thank you!
Melanie McDonald says
I wouldn't do that. The muffin batter would end up too wet with applesauce. The recipe is also specifically developed with the damp apple pieces in mind so probably wouldn't be great if you just left the apples out. This muffin recipe however is a great base one though. You can easily omit the chocolate chips and they will work perfectly. Feel free to add any spices like cinnamon, or switch the vanilla for any other extracts that they like: https://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-chocolate-chip-muffins/
Ash says
You can hardly even tell there's apple pieces in these as the apple cooks - if that's any help! The apple flavour is there but it doesn't have the texture of apple chunks.
Rozz says
Hi, in the UK we have cupcake baking trays (pans) which are smaller than muffin trays (pans). Which is this recipe for.
Many thanks
Roz xx
Melanie McDonald says
This recipe needs muffin pans.
Jess says
These muffins are so good… I don’t follow a vegan diet and honestly wouldn’t even guess these are vegan. I followed the recipe to a T using a scale. I used vegan butter (naturli brand) and included the streusel topping with walnuts. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!